Thing 3: Allen said he hasn’t talked to former Celtics teammate Rajon Rondo during nor after the recruiting process, but was asked twice by Boston media if their reportedly strained relationship factored into the decision.

”I can’t say it factored in my decision,” Allen said. “As teammates we were brothers. I’m around them more than I’m around my own family. There’s differences. We all have differences. Paul (Pierce) eats cornflakes. I might not like cornflakes. That’s just kind of who we are as individuals. As players we have to put our differences aside.”

So, in other words, yeah, Rondo helped push Allen out the door.

So, too, you have to believe, did the emerging young Avery Bradley and the newly signed Jason Terry.

Not that the Heat are complaining about how things went down. Not at all.

MIKE BERARDINO is still living the dream he first hatched as a young boy growing up in South Florida in the ‘70s and ‘80s. He’s writing about sports for a living. Best of all, he’s doing it in a now-crowded South Florida sports landscape teeming with talent, passion and, yes, sometimes even controversy. As the newest sports columnist at the Sun Sentinel, where he’s worked since February 1998, most recently as a Dolphins beat writer, Mike will draw on his many experiences over the years covering virtually every major sport and event. You name it, he’s been on the scene: World Series, Summer and Winter Olympics, Super Bowls, NBA Finals, NCAA Final Fours, BCS Championships, Wimbledon, the Masters, NASCAR Sprint Cup and on and on. Talk about living the dream. And now, with this new role and a daily blog forum for his many ideas and opinions, it just keeps getting better.